Oneida High School Jazz Band drummer Ryan Fisher, along with fellow members, rehearses for the upcoming Oneida Jazz Festival on Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2014 at the high school.
JOHN HAEGER-ONEIDA DAILY DISPATCH @ONEIDAPHOTO ON TWITTER

ONEIDA >> The Jazz Ensamble at Oneida High School will host its annual Oneida Jazz Festival on Thursday and Friday, March 6 and 7 at Oneida High School.

For 27 years, the group has been bringing bands from all over the state to play at the high school. David Hawthorne, Nick Anderalli, Margie Hawthorne and Kathryn Dimmel will be directing the event.

This year, bands from Schenectady, Troy, Oswego, West Genesee and Henniger will be performing at the school on March 6, joining Oneida’s sixth grade jazz band and the seventh and eighth grade jazz band. A Jazz combo from Liverpool will also be playing on Thursday. Each of the student performing groups will be graded on performance, receiving a gold, silver or bronze rating.

The Crane School of Music Jazz Ensemble will present clinics for students throughout the weekend and will close out the two day festival with a 45 minute concert.

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Judges for this year’s event include: Bret Zvacek, Mike Dubaniewicz and John Piazza. Zvacek is currently the director of Jazz studies at the Crane School of Music and the director of the Central New York Jazz Orchestra in Syracuse. Dubaniewicz is currently an adjunct instructor at Syracuse University and Manlius Pebble Hill and active performer. Piazza is the band director at Remsen School District, and spent years performing on Carnival Cruise ships.

The Festival runs from noon to 5 p.m. on Thursday, March 6 and from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Friday. The Crane ensemble will be performing at 8:30 p.m. on Friday. Tickets are $5 for the event, which is being held at Oneida High School, 560 Seneca Street, in Oneida.

About the Author

Until December, 2014, Nick will was a staff writer at the Oneida Daily Dispatch. Hailing from Madison. Nick is a 2012 SUNY Plattsburgh graduate. In his time at The Dispatch, he focused on education, history and community events coverage in Madison and Southern Oneida counties. Reach the author at nwill@oneidadispatch.com
or follow Nick on Twitter: @DispatchNick.